"It's a pretty good feeling," Muramoto said of signing. "It's something I've always wanted to do since I started playing football."

Playing football on the collegiate level has a special meaning for Azevedo, who played on the Waiakea basketball team and now competes in track and field.

"It's a dream of mine," he said. "It fulfills a promise to my little brother, Ryan Lehmann. We lost him to leukemia on Dec. 19, 2004. He wanted me to play college football and succeed after high school.

"I play for him and I want to do everything right."

Azevedo will probably feel right at home at Montana, which is known as "Big Sky" country, because he works on his grandfather's ranch. The state is also home to Yellowstone National Park.

Fields of grain cover much of Montana's plains. It ranks high among the states in wheat and barley as main crops with sheep and cattle as significant contributors to the economy.

At Midland Lutheran, Muramoto will see several familiar faces, like Jinho Tohara, a 2005 Kealakehe graduate. Tohara rushed for 195 yards on 34 carries this past season.

"It feels good that I'll know Hawaii people when I get up there," said Muramoto, who's also on the Waiakea track and field team. "Going to Midland, I'll have an opportunity to play and I played with Jinho guys before.

"The coach (Bob Dzuris) said he looks forward to seeing me and once I get up there they'll evaluate where I fit in."

Nebraska is a leading grain-producer with bumper crops of corn and wheat. That's the main reason Nebraska is nicknamed the Cornhusker State.

Like Azevedo, Muramoto, who plans to major in elementary education, believes he's found a perfect match with his college choice. Azevedo is undecided about his major.

"It'll take time to get adjusted, but I think I'll fit in," Muramoto said.